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Sunday, August 23, 2009

For some time now we have all been dying to go camping. It was a highlight for me as I grew up and wanted to be able to take the girls camping during the summer before school started. We spent three days at Kopachuck, just outside of Gig Harbor, WA along the water and we had a great time. Rebecka made a friend and had a great time with her at the beach, the playground, and running into her every once in a while at the campground. It's a small campground surrounded by huge Evergreens and it's nice a quiet. We had a VERY RELAXING time! Can't wait to do that again!

Rebecka turned 7 years old on Aug. 13th. We invited some little girls she has known in the past to come over and also had some of the CMC short term missions' team come from this summer come over. It was a great time of fellowship and destroying a piñata! Felicidades Rebecka!

It was great to see Roxanne (college friend) again and meet her husband and family. What a blessing they all are! We had a great time chatting with them and checkin' out the farm! Thank you guys for your hospitality!

On Friday, we arrived at Geña's sister's place. She and her daughters work at Panera's and they brought home a doughnut cake, put candles on it, and sang happy birthday to me. We had a nice three days with them.

Sunday I shared a little at the spanish service of Harvest Time Church just down the road and we left on Monday morning...16 hours to Portland.

We spent Friday-Monday nights with Geña's sister, Julia and her four daughters. Running around, shopping, spending time with Abuela Rufina (Geña and Julia's mom) and speaking at Julia's church on Sunday. It was a good time!

Monday, August 03, 2009

Greetings everyone! July was HOT/HUMID and busy! We pray that all are doing well wherever you may be this month! Thank you for your prayers. God is moving in the hearts of many!

Last month, we asked you to pray for…

Short-term Missions...Christ Memorial Church from Poulsbo, Washington was with us at the beginning of the month and their ministry time was divided into two phases: a youth volleyball tournament and a children’s VBS in a nearby town. We had a great time with the team and they were a real blessing to us. One of the neatest times came when the Holy Spirit’s presence was felt in the Sunday Service as the team prayed over people and we were able to pray over a team member with Leukemia. Click here to read about it.

Student Leadership Retreat Thank you sooo much for your prayers during our Leadership Retreat. This is where we start to build in the youth group. We focused on edifying one another learned that as we humble ourselves, we’ll be able to work together as we look out for one another. Here is a report on how the time went.

Speed Soccer Tournament Opportunity Time! This year’s summer tournament turned into a time of great opportunities for developing leadership skills and making new friends. It was a fun three days and the Lord was glorified! Here is a report about the tournament.

Youth Summer Camp What an awesome time! Geña and I were not there for the whole thing, but we’ve heard some great reports that the students returned fired up and ready to be Warriors for Jesus! Here is a picture of the first night’s service.

Visit to Washington We are on our way to Washington and will be there until late October. If we are in your area, give us a call: 360-265-4545—we’ll have a cell phone while we’re in the states. You can see a basic itinerary for the three months here. Also, you can see where we are currently as we are traveling. Again, let us know if we can see you! Here is our travel itinerary.

Vacationing in Mexico? We would love to see you as Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are all 3 to 4 hours from here. If you are coming to any of those locations, let us know!! We would love to have you come and visit us in Cofradía to see first hand what God is doing and meet the people we get to spend time with!!

Links to something extra...Facebook; if you’re on Facebook, I’d love to get in touch with you!

This month, would you please pray for...

Visit to Washington Please continue to pray for us as we travel to Washington. Also, we’ll be doing some traveling while we’re there and speaking in different places. If you would like us to speak at your church, small group, Sunday School class, or gather some friends for a barbecue we’d love to share with you God’s goodness in Cofradía.

RETO planning We’ve been planning for the past couple of months our biggest youth event of the year. This year, Geña and I are leaving everything in the hands of the Student Leaders and Youth Staff. It should be a great time of stepping out and learning. Please pray for clarity in the teachings and well thought-out organization in the games/events (starts August 29 and continues every Saturday in September). If you could help with donating towards this event we would really appreciate it. We need $2000 usdollars to fund it. Here is a flyer sharing a little more about the event.

Thank you very much for your prayers and continued support.See how to partner with us and donate here.

We spent our first night in La Cruz, Sinaloa as we took 19 students with three staff leaders to summer camp. I talked to one of the leaders on Saturday as they were headed back to Cofradía and he said everything went really well and that the Lord touched the lives of our students. I didn't get many details, but I know that God did some great things!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Opportunities! Opportunities abound in events like this within Alternative Missions Cofradía’s Student Ministry. This summer, the opportunities came with Intern Chuy Hernández organizing the tournament.

Chuy getting ready to hand out the trophies.

This was the first event the he put together after coming back from a Bible School in Oaxaca. He did a great job choosing team captains and giving opportunities for a couple of guys to experience leadership who haven’t yet. One of those, Carlos, does not come to church very often but in the past year has been coming around more and more. It’s notable in his face and eyes that when the Word of God is being shared, he is more than interested. Our prayer is that Carlos just doesn’t stay on shore getting his feet wet, but that he jumps into the River of Life fully committed to the Lord. He’s a great kid.

Carlos flying through the defense.

Another new captain this summer was Royer. He has been part of the youth group for a few years now and just last summer was touched by the Lord at camp. Chuy has been mentoring him as they read the Bible and hang out together. Royer did a great job helping lead his team to the Championship game!

Royer getting ready to score.

Gregorio has been part of the youth group for a number of years and has been a part of almost every event we’ve had. He has been a leader in the past in other events, but this was his first time as a Soccer captain. He did a great job.

Gregorio can handle the ball well.

The returning captains were two Student Leaders; Martin and Julio. Martin has stood out as a strong leader for many years in our youth group and has made a great impact in the lives of the youth in his home town Arrayanes. One of the reasons that the student ministry has grown is a result of his labor.

Martin getting ready to block a shot.

Finally, Julio has also been part of the youth group for a very long time and also stands out as a strong leader. He has been a great team leader in the past and this year, he, like Royer, led his team to the Championship game. In the end, Julio’s team won as they not only dominated the Championship game, but the whole tournament.

Julio has a strong foot!

The Champions "Deportivo Cerro".

It’s interesting to see the fruit that comes from events like this. You never know what will happen in the days or weeks to come. Students make relationships with newer students and those relationship lead to opportunities to share Christ’s love whether it’s through hanging out as a friend, listening to a message, praying for one another, or simply the way a student lives their life.

It is a blessing to be part of this ministry. Please consider how you may participate as well to become part of a winning team for Jesus.